Parties On The Run For Many Along Route, Bloomsday Is All About Food, Drink, Music
As the carpet of racers rolled down West Broadway, heads snapped toward the barbecue at the white house.
The sweet summer smell of Louisiana fricassee was a tempting detour for Bloomsday runners. For cook Barry Gardner and his friends, Bloomsday is a party race and they’re doing their best to win.
“We got it goin’ on today,” said Gardner, a spatula in one hand, a Budweiser in the other. Grand Funk Railroad bumped in the background.
Fifty thousand people on the sidewalk was ample excuse to keep those not inclined to running off the road. Instead, Bloomsday viewers throughout the course exercised their good will Sunday, clustering for good food, chilled drinks and friendly talk.
“Sit down, we’ll get you some chicken,” said Gardner to a stranger. “Can I get you something to drink?”
The cool weather tempered the party atmosphere for some, as watchers huddled in blankets. Ben Costello has seen every Bloomsday from his home on West Broadway.
“Oh, this is a little below average, a little too cold,” said Costello, who claims to be the unofficial “Mayor of Broadway.”
“We usually have a band in the front yard,” he said.
Some, like Gardner and his friends, started early, at 6 a.m. Others, like Jacci Bottler, advised party caution.
She paced herself, sipping coffee as the elite pack of runners floated past her Browne’s Addition townhouse.
“It’s going to be a long, very unproductive day, so you have to watch yourself,” she said.
Two doors down, on West Riverside, Dennis Guenther was serving up a granola-honey-apple dish and Bloody Marys. Celery stalks peeked above the red plastic party cups of his guests, invited as part of a fund-raiser for the Spokane AIDS Network.
“No stress, no strains, no fractures here,” said Michael Chapperr, a partygoer. “This is much safer than running.”
The racers were a captive audience for some enterprising performers. Twenty-year-old community college student Matt Runkle and his band, The Mid-Quarter Reports, cranked out tunes - sort of surf music with a hangover - for the racers as they bobbed through Browne’s Addition.
“We want 50,000 people to see our show,” Runkle said.
A Peaceful Valley couple, Marc and Georgi Whitman, advertised a “Naked or With Underwear Party.” The offerings there: hamburgers, humus, fruit salad and beer.
But Gardner’s West Central barbecue was the tastiest fare sampled by a hungry reporter. At least 30 other racers agreed, stopping in for a plate of chicken, bratwurst and Greg Bradford’s potato salad.
The barbecue recipe is a protected secret, unveiled only at the annual Bloomsday and Super Bowl parties of Gardner, Bradford, Larry Brown and Charles Williams. The foursome shells out about $200 each for food and alcohol, which they willingly give away.
“I’m from Louisiana; you don’t give away recipes there,” said Williams. “But we’ll feed ya. Want some more chicken?”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo